(insert clever title here)
by mylittlechemicalromance
Summary: One long leico fluff story. No death, no real plot. I figure you guys have been through enough. T for cussing.
1. Chapter 1

"This is hopeless" Leo muttered as he fiddled with the ballista, which had been broken. Again. For like, the ninth time. But who was counting? Apparently the string and a few levers were missing from the gigantic bow. Damn. Those were the hardest parts to find, too. Leo stood up, dusting himself off. Nico was loitering on deck, everybody else was either in the mess hall or In their cabins. It was relatively early In the morning, 6 or 7 o' clock, and Leo had been rudely awakened by coach Hedge (not that the satyr was particularly polite about anything he did) and was told that the ballista was "more fucked up than my mama goat", whatever that meant. He started walking to ask Nico if he knew anything. He didn't know why but the guy seemed... Off. Like Leo would be doing something wrong if he talked to him. Maybe it had to do with his sense of humor (or lack thereof) or maybe the guy was just creepy. Besides, death and darkness had never been his type. Thing. His thing. Before Leo could decide what the hell he had meant he had gotten Nico's attention. "Heeeeyyy Nico!" "What do you want Valdez?" He asked curtly, stepping back from the railing. "Chill, man I just wanna ask you something," Leo replied with his constant troublemaker grin. Was it just his imagination, or had Nico's eyes gotten a little wider? "Whatever it is, no." "Whoah man take it easy, I just wanted to ask if you knew where I could get ballista parts." Nico looked Leo over (which wasn't difficult considering Leo was the shortest person on the ship) before finally looking at his eyes. He sighed. "What kind?" Leo grinned. Well, a little wider than normal. He knew that nobody could resist his puppy dog eyes. "Just a couple of levers and some string" Leo requested, fiddling with a couple of gears from his tool belt. "Can't you just summon those things?' Nico asked, nodding slightly towards Leo's tool belt. "Nah, too specialized for our giant crossbow here, Nessie." Leo told him, throwing a thumb over a shoulder in it's general direction. "Did you just call the ballista Nessie?" Leo got a hurt look in his eyes. "Don't let her hear you say that" Nico stared at him, then grinned. "Valdez, you are one... Interesting demigod." Leo flushed. He didn't know why, but he really liked making Nico smile. "Well I've certainly been called worse, death-boy" Nico's smile dropped. Not angrily, just casually. "I'm sure you have, shorty," He replied. "Okay I am not THAT short," Leo complained, stepping back a little because he was suddenly aware that he was pretty close to Nico. "Anyways, any idea where I can at least find some wood to make new ones?" "Nope," Nico said, going back to looking at the passing sea. The rising sun reflected of his dark hair, giving it's black color a little bit of gold. It made him look pretty good, actually. "What?" Nico asked him, turning. Leo realized he had been staring. "Uh.. Um... Nothing, sorry, just zoned out a little," he stuttered, starting to walk towards the mess hall. "Anyways I gotta go eat before Hedge gives me another chore." Nico stepped back from the rail and stretched. "I'd better go eat too," he said, walking with Leo towards the mess hall.


	2. Chapter 2

"Really?" Leo asked Nico. "What?" He protested, eating his chicken nuggets. They were in the mess hall. Everybody else had left except piper, who claimed she had to "clean up". Nico knew that the plates were magical and therefore didn't need cleaning, but was glad for the extra company. Leo was... Different. Not tall and handsome like Percy but more like a really cute puppy. Like, adorable. Bouncy and happy, energetic, not half bad looking either. Nico stopped eating for a second and blinked. Leo didn't seem to notice, he was too busy attacking his tamales and glancing at a tablet. Nico shook himself a little and looked around the room, studying the plates, tables, anything but Leo. Piper was smirking from the doorway. Why was she here again? Nothing's to clean up, and Nico didn't really think that the daughter of Aphrodite was really THAT enthusiastic about labor. Wait a second... Daughter of Aphrodite... Nico turned bright red as the realization dawned on him. He glared at Piper, and she winked and left. He sighed and went back to his chicken nuggets, just in time to see Leo make a grab for one. Nico grabbed his wrist as quick as lightning, surprising Leo. "Wow, Nicky, I didn't think you were paying attention," Leo said, smirking as usual. Nico just have him his best death stare. Leo wasn't even fazed. Or maybe it was his big brown eyes that stopped Nico from really trying. They stayed like that for a bit, just long enough to make it awkward. Leo started fidgeting a little. "So, uh, ya mind letting me go? I mean I know I'm super hot but I need my hands." Nico stared for another moment, then let go. Leo started fidgeting uncomfortably. "A- anyways, I found the perfect tree to use for the levers. Its the strongest I could find, and I could make a few spares," Leo told him, pointing to the tablet, which was showing a map. Nico nodded. "And?" He asked. Leo looked around nervously. "Well I was just wondering if you wanted to go with me, since we both always get stuck staying on the ship." Nico's heart raced a little faster. Gods, why did he have to act so cute? Nico managed to reconstruct his poker face. "Sure. How're we gonna get it down?" He asked. Leo was still nervously looking around. He finally looked back at Nico. "Yeah, well I haven't really figured that bit out yet, but i figure the son of Death and a firebender shouldn't have a problem with one tree " Nico smiled. They had killed so many monsters and done so many insane things, chopping down a tree with a friend seemed too normal. "How hard can it be?" He asked, standing up. "When do we land to go get this thing?" "A few minutes. Go tell everyone, I'm gonna have to go put us down," Leo told him, leaving his plate and jogging to the deck. Nico turned around and went out the other door to go tell everyone and came face to face with Piper when he rounded the corner. "Soooooooo?" She asked, a knowing look in her eyes. "Soooo what?" Nico asked, trying to push past her. She casually moved just enough to block the hallway. "So Leo huh?" She asked with a smirk. Nico scowled at her, but that didn't prevent his face from getting red. "No idea what you're talking about," he told her, trying to push past her again. "I think you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about," she said, blocking him again. "That kinda sounded like a date." "What? The tree? No! If I was gonna take him on a date we'd go to like an ice cream shop or som-" Nico stopped, horrified. Piper's smirk got wider. "Ice cream shop huh? I'll keep that in mind," Piper said, finally stepping to the side to let Nico pass. He stormed past her, to angry at his own slip-up for another smart ass remark. He didn't want to take Leo on a date, they were just friends, Leo doesn't even like people like him, he was really confused and nervous and maybe just a little bit hopeful and just a gay teenage emotional wreck. He was good for fighting monsters and saving the world, but when it came to relationships he was at a loss.


	3. Chapter 3

(Leo)

Leo fiddled with the controls. Half the time, he had no idea what he was doing, his hands just kinda worked themselves. That was cool, since it gave him time to think. How WERE they gonna get that tree down? It was pretty huge. And why had he asked Nico anyway? Jason and Frank were pretty buff. It probably had to do with the kid's powers. He could just summon a couple of skeletons and set them to work. Nah, that wouldn't take long enough. Wait, they wanted the tree down ASAP so they could get a move on. Still, Leo had the feeling that he shouldn't let Nico use any undead powers. Leo was starting to have this sort of sneaking suspicion about himself that he was too caught up worrying about Nico to investigate. Who could very well be part of the suspicion. Part of it was, Leo had gotten a sorta crush on Jason at some point. And who could blame him? The guy was freakin handsome, even Percy would've had to admit that. Plus the fact he kept saving Leo's ass didn't help. But Leo was a realist. It was an unfortunate side effect of years of being on your own. He knew Jason loved Piper and etc., but still. That's why he kept falling for every girl they met. Anything but have his hopes crushed with someone he actually spent time with. Leo sighed. He really had no idea what his mom would say to him right now. Probably something along the lines of "miho, you can love whoever you want, just so long as they love you back." Leo knew that his friends cared for and needed him, but that didn't stop him from feeling lovesick must've felt the same way, son of Hades, the gigantically obvious crush he has (or, maybe, hopefully, had) on Percy, not really welcome in either Camp, no girlfriend (or boyfriend. In the world of monsters and gods sexual orientation was kinda not a big deal. Hell, the Greeks had statues of buff naked guys just hangin around). Normally Leo would just kinda ask a girl he liked on a date and get shot down, but with Nico that didn't seem like an option. Besides, Leo told himself, guys like him don't fall for guys like you. Just go chop down the tree and forget about all this. Leo sighed. Machines didn't have emotions. They did what you told them. They could almost always be fixed with relatively small effort. Humans were the exact opposite. Yet, Leo reflected as he landed the ship, that's what makes us worth having. Death, emotions, free will. Simple wasn't always better.


End file.
